The Brutality of Death Penalty

Death penalty brutalizes us. Every human being deserves the dignity of

life. This includes the most brutal of murderers and insane killers. Premeditated,

state sanctioned killing is not justifiable under any circumstances. Death penalty in an indication of how little our government values human life.

Capital punishment is cruel, both physically and psychologically. People have been executed who might have been innocent. The death penalty is not applied consistently, and it also discriminates against minorities and the poor. The average capital dependant doesn't have the money to hire O J Simpson's "dream team".

The electric chair is the most gruesome methods of execution currently practiced in the US. Although hanging and the gas chamber are capable of producing excruciating pain as well. Lethal injections are also being practiced but the torture that death penalty brings about cannot be taken out. The conscious human beings that are being put to death die a thousand times before they die, just imagining the torture that they will be put through.

There are plenty of politicians ready to exploit capital punishment. Kirk Fordice promised in his campaign that he would make Mississippi the 'capital of capital punishment'-The Atlantic reported. Also, Kentucky governor Paul Patton signed five execution warrants on his second day in office, though all five cases were still pending in court.

A burgeoning global movement is harshly critical of the US on the issue of death penalty. The European Union has called on the US to end the practice. So has the Inter-American Court on Human Rights.

US religious leaders also have taken a strong stand against death penalty. "We oppose capital punishment not just for what it does to those guilty of horrible crimes, but for what it does to all of us as a society" says a march 1999 joint statement by US Jewish and Catholic leaders.